NASA’s use of Ground and Flight Analogs in Reducing Human Risks for Exploration
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1
Johnson Space Center (NASA), United States
Human exploration in the Lunar or Mars vicinity poses multiple risks to crew health and performance. In order to enable safe, reliable, and productive human space exploration within and beyond low Earth orbit, NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP) performs research to help reduce the risks to human health & performance during exploration missions. HRP research leads to the development and delivery of: human health, performance, and habitability standards or requirements; countermeasures and other risk mitigation solutions; and advanced habitability and medical support technologies. Figure 1 lists the 26 risks to human health and performance that NASA grouped into five main stressors or hazards: radiation, altered gravity fields, isolation and confinement, hostile closed environments, and distance from Earth. HRP utilizes multiple research venues to understand and mitigate these human exploration risks.
Although the International Space Station (ISS) provides an excellent platform for much of HRP’s biomedical, behavioral and human factors research, it has its limitations as an analog for long duration exploration applications. The ISS is close to Earth, protected from deep space radiation. Near real-time communication to ground control or to family members is possible. It also has evacuation and re-supply capabilities, is relatively large, is limited to 6-month increments, and its utilization is highly constrained. In contrast, exploration vehicles will be far more autonomous and austere. To that end, NASA is investigating new ways to utilize the ISS to mimic portions of the target exploration missions. The HRP is proposing year-long ISS missions to further characterize the impact of spaceflight and effectiveness of countermeasures extending beyond 6 months. Also under investigation are ways to limit interactions with the ground, developing hardware and procedures the reduce reliance on ground control, reducing the number of visiting vehicles and delaying communications, and increasing autonomous operations. In addition, HRP utilizes multiple ground analogs to mimic portions of the target exploration missions that are difficult to replicate on ISS. Ground analogs can mimic portions of a target mission and provide a pathway to more effectively address human health and performance questions quicker and in a more controlled manner than ISS allows.
NASA’s HRP currently leverages national and international partnerships to conduct research in six different ground analogs, covering five of the six primary spaceflight hazards. The NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) simulates space radiation. The Deutsches Zentrum Für Luft- Und Raumfahrt E. V. (DLR) :envihab facility coupled with parabolic flight simulate the altered gravity fields. NASA’s Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) and the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) Science-Experimental Complex (NEK) facility simulate isolation and confinement. Finally, Antarctic stations simulate a hostile environment.
Radiation research utilizes the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) located at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The NSRL provides multiple heavy ion and proton irradiations, including a Galactic Cosmic Ray Simulation, with energies ranging from 50- 1500 MeV, in a 20x20 cm beam profile. In addition, support laboratories, specimen housing and control rooms allow deep space radiation exposures to cells, tissues and rodents. HRP sponsors three exposure runs annually focusing on translation of tissue and animal research to humans, countermeasure testing, single ion to mixed field translation and low dose-rate studies more closely aligned with space exposure rates.
HRP utilizes bed rest and parabolic flight to simulate the microgravity environment. NASA completed a 30-day 6-degree head down tilt bed rest study with altered atmospheric conditions (0.5% CO2) in collaboration with DLR. During this VIIP and Psychological :envihab Research (VaPER) study, 5 of the 11 subjects developed Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS) symptoms, indicating this bed rest paradigm may be a valuable ground analog for the SANS (formally known as VIIP) risk. NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and DLR are planning a 60-day bed rest campaign with Artificial Gravity in the DLR :envihab facility. This campaign, identified as AGBRESA, implements three NASA and Seven ESA proposals that cover the full complement of altered gravity risks. NASA, ESA, DLR and the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) also recently collaborated on an International parabolic flight campaign using the Novespace aircraft. Completed May 28- June 8, 2018, eight studies (4 ESA, 1 CNES, 2 DLR, 1 NASA/DLR) were run during 31 Parabolas at 0.25 g, 0.5 g, and 0.75 g.
For isolation and confinement research, HRP sponsors annual campaigns of four 45-day isolation missions with a crew of four in the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA). The HERA is 3-story, 3 module habitat at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. It supports four crewmembers per mission, has a mission control, adjustable lighting, flight vehicle and virtual reality simulators. Four campaigns representing 66 research studies from NASA and DLR have been completed to date, with the fifth campaign of 14 studies planned to begin in January 2019. Longer isolation studies are planned in collaboration with the IBMP in Moscow utilizing the Russian NEK facility for isolation studies ranging from four months to one year, identified as SIRIUS missions. The NEK facility supports six crew in a single story, 4 module habitat that includes a mission control and a surface simulator and is environmentally controlled. The four month mission is scheduled to begin in February 2019.
Antarctic stations (both US and non-US) have become an invaluable analog for multiple studies, with studies in McMurdo, South Pole, Neumayer and Concordia stations.
Analog environments mimic portions of a target mission and provide a pathway to effectively address exploration human health and performance questions. Collaborations provide unique opportunities to address critical research questions requiring long duration and controlled simulation or isolation. Through the established working groups and multilateral panels, NASA is negotiating expedited releases of research opportunities with international participation to encourage multilateral approaches to future analog research campaigns. NASA’s collaborative use of global analog facilities through multilateral campaigns or missions leverage the global scientific community, allow NASA to mimic four of the five major space flight stressors, focus high quality research on exploration issues and provide sufficient power to accelerate the development of countermeasures to drive sound recommendations for exploration missions.
Acknowledgements
Deutsches Zentrum Für Luft- Und Raumfahrt E. V. (DLR) :envihab facility personnel
Institute of Biomedical Problems
Brookhaven National Laboratory
US National Science Foundation Polar Program
Keywords:
NASA,
analogs,
analogue,
risk,
microgravity,
:envihab,
Radiation,
NEK
Conference:
39th ISGP Meeting & ESA Life Sciences Meeting, Noordwijk, Netherlands, 18 Jun - 22 Jun, 2018.
Presentation Type:
Extended abstract
Topic:
International Cooperation and Space Agency Programs
Citation:
Corbin
BJ and
Vega
LM
(2019). NASA’s use of Ground and Flight Analogs in Reducing Human Risks for Exploration.
Front. Physiol.
Conference Abstract:
39th ISGP Meeting & ESA Life Sciences Meeting.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fphys.2018.26.00044
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Received:
02 Dec 2018;
Published Online:
16 Jan 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Mrs. Barbara J Corbin, Johnson Space Center (NASA), Houston, United States, barbara.j.corbin@nasa.gov